Tag: Collection

As the winter nights are starting to get just a little bit brighter and Easter, spring and summer are just around the corner my thoughts turn to holidays spent in France and then obviously to the wealth of wonderful glassware

At the end of the 18th century a combination of poor personal hygiene and disastrous sewage control made walking through streets a rather smelly business. Enter the vinaigrette. Used by many in polite society, it was a tiny hinged box

In medieval Europe most people had a wooden or pewter spoon at home and if visiting friends or relatives they took it with them. The wealthy tended to do the same, but theirs were silver. Later a knife was added,

I love Italy. I love the people, the pizzas, the sunshine and the glassware. Italian glass overflows with exciting history and wonderful colours and one of it’s most colourful characters is Paulo Venini. Murano is one of a compact group

Although I was born quite a long time ago, I didn’t really get my rocking shoes on until the mid 1970’s. This was a fabulous time for me and my rhythm and blues, soul seeking, rocking contemporaries, except for one

The Ming Dynasty lasted for nearly 300 years, from 1386 to 1644, which is a long time by anybody’s standards. During the dynasty mountains and mountains of porcelain was produced. Why then is all Ming porcelain so valuable, or is

Sheffield Auction Gallery’s forthcoming Auction of Antique, Vintage & Modern, Fine & Costume Jewellery on Thursday 25th January includes a large selection of diamond and gem set rings. With estimates ranging from as little as £50 there is something to

Christmas is over, a joyous one for all I hope and now a new year beckons. As many ask themselves what does the future hold for Brexit, English cricket and diesel motor cars, I myself focus on the secretaire and

The hallmark of a good Dowse Christmas is a healthy discussion over the choosing, placement and decoration of the Christmas tree, which in over forty years I have never won and an increase in trouser size for my return to